Progressive City Surakarta? Learning from Community-Based Initiatives in Urban Indonesia

Abstract

The “progressive city” concept combines two complex terms “progressive” and “city,” both of which indicate the involvement of social processes to achieve. Various perspectives on progressiveness revolve around ideology, materiality, and action, with various emphases on the actors involved. How does examining cities from below contribute to the progressive city concept? Understanding the construction of the progressive city from below requires more emphasis on local initiatives and a focus on how residents construct strategies communally to overcome their urban challenges. In answering this question, I focus on cases of local kampungs in Surakarta that have had community-based initiatives of urban space improvements. The data are obtained from in-depth interviews of community representatives that are conducted in 2015 as well as the database of community infrastructure projects that was obtained from the government. I conclude with three main findings: First, a focus on local initiatives in the city potentially leads to better understanding of the city from the perspectives of the residents. Second, progressive leaderships are not only on the city level but also in neighborhoods. Third, progressive city from below demonstrates potential resilience of progressiveness beyond mayoral terms or electoral politics.

The fieldwork in Surakarta (Solo) is funded by the Institute of Water Policy, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore, under research grant “Community Participation in Urban Water Management”.